8/30/2013

Tinderbox
Fire danger remains high throughout Idaho
Red flag fire warnings remained in effect through most of the south-central Idaho this week as Idahoans prepared for an extended holiday weekend. The red flag warning anticipates the convergence of thunderstorms, hot temperatures and extremely dry conditions.
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United Way
Idaho State Employees Charitable Giving Campaign begins
Carla Anderson: The State Employees’ Charitable Giving Campaign begins Sunday (Sept. 1) and runs through Oct. 31. We have the opportunity each year to extend our public service commitment to help our neighbors and our communities every day, all year long. 
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Outstanding Customer Service
ITD offers phone callers better experience
Time spent with a phone on hold is time lost for many people. Averaging 10 minutes per week on hold, each of us will spend a total of three weeks of our lives “waiting for the next available representative."
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Highways
Damaged digital sign on I-184 to be replaced
Replacement of the overhead Dynamic Message Sign on Interstate-184 (the Connector) will close the westbound (outbound) lanes of I-184 at 13th Street from 8 p.m. Sept. 8 through 5 a.m. the next day. The existing sign was installed in the summer of 2000.
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Highway safety
'Buckle Up for Bobby' scholarships awarded
Idaho’s Alive at 25 free driver awareness courses teach young drivers, ages 15 to 24, the importance and value of safe and defensive driving. They also helped provide some cash to students for college this fall, thanks to a local non-profit organization.
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Highway safety
Boise area drivers second-safest in nation
Allstate Insurance Company this week released its ninth annual overview of driver safety and indicated Boise’s are among the safest drivers in the nation, based on the potential of becoming involved in a collision. Only Fort Collins, Colo., ranked better than Boise in a list of America’s 200 largest cities.
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Highway safety
Seeing red when drivers race through intersections
Brent Jennings: Today I believe almost all students in elementary school understand that a red light at an intersection means stop. At times I wonder if adults have lost the meaning of this simple concept. Red-light running is a serious problem in Idaho – one that is fatal.
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Preparedness
College prep: Send students off with tools for survival
Parents spend valuable time preparing their children for college. Whether it is time management, financial or personal responsibility advice, it is passed on to help students achieve success in what may be their first time living away from home. What may be overlooked is disaster preparedness advice.
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DMV outreach
Encore (8-23-13): ITD services delivered to fair visitors
Aside from a virtual visit to ITD, the best introduction of services provided by the department might be found in an exhibition hall at one of Idaho’s major fairs. DMV representatives and other ITD employees explained the myriad services and programs available through ITD this week at the Western Idaho Fair in Garden City.
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Highway safety
Encore (8-23-13): Law enforcement to focus on impaired drivers
ITD and law enforcement officers throughout Idaho will partner in a high-visibility, impaired-driving education and enforcement campaign beginning Monday (Aug. 26) and continuing through Sept. 8. The campaign is part of a nationwide Labor Day education and enforcement campaign that targets drunk driving.
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Highways
Encore (8-23-13): Murphy shed will improve maintenance responses
A new maintenance facility that will improve highway maintenance responses in southwest Idaho was completed recently. Construction began last year on the new maintenance facility that will enable ITD to better serve the needs of motorists on Idaho 78 between Grand View and Marsing.
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ISP history
Encore (8-23-13): 'Without Compromise,' Stories of Idaho State Police
It has been a journey ranging from barely-functioning motor vehicles and hardly-there roads to high-tech computer systems and biotechnology - a long way. Some of what the Idaho State Police does is evident in newspaper headlines and local television news reports, but only pieces of it, as glimpses of the larger story.
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